swim school are a band that always stay true to their roots. Set by set, they get tighter and tighter, and although they now have plenty more material up their sleeve, they never forget to give their wanting fans the old classics.

I first saw them in October 2021, when they came down to play Hyde Park Book Club during Live at Leeds: In the City. A four-piece back then, they were loud yet unassuming, and I lapped up hearing their then-new-EP’s high-calibre alt rock. Fast forward to a somewhat warming-up April in 2024 and you’ve got the fantastic, Alice-fronted trio ripping up Oporto. 

We hadn’t caught much of Lizzie Esau, their support, but vocally, I could certainly detect why they’d picked the artist to open for them. Soon, swim school were sauntering down a makeshift aisle, through a parted-like-waves crowd and onto the stage. 

The order of their performance interestingly flitted between melancholy mood-mellowers and upbeat, raging anthems. And they didn’t work chronologically either, which kept everyone on their toes. For the OGs, ‘outside’, ‘everything you wanted’ and ‘let me inside your head’ absolutely roared within the room — you could tell who had been familiar with the outfit since the beginning. The younger faces seemed particularly in awe of ‘don’t leave me behind’, ‘over now’ and ‘Seeing It Now’, three of their more recent offerings. 

Spectators were at their most courteous when Alice delivered the news that she’d be playing one very special song solo; just her and an acoustic guitar. ‘To Grow’ has immense meaning for the band, and so we were all asked to be silent and still, while Alice projected her butter-soft lyrics across the room. 

My favourites of the newer tunes remained the gentle transparency of oh-so-catchy ‘kill you’ and, wholly differently, the raucous, threatening nature of ‘delirious’. These tracks are possibly their strongest, aside from ‘Give Me A Reason Why’, since their debut EP. 

While Leeds was the last leg of the English run of shows on their tour, you can bet swim school have plenty left in the tank for the gigs that remain and the summer ahead. You can bet the West Yorkshire city sent them off in due style.

With thanks to the band and their management for the press access.